Memorial Day

Tessi came for a visit and to celebrate Memorial Day and Judah's birthday we went here:

And here:
And did a lot of this:
And some of this:
And after over an hour of that we felt a little like this:


And this:



But we felt much better once we got here:



And on the way back down we went here:



And did some of this:





But by the time we finally got back to the car, we still felt like this:



So it's a good thing that that evening it rained cats and dogs and we could get refreshed by going out and doing this:




All in all, it was a good day!

(pics from the birthday party later this weekend!)

My weekend's labors...

So, this weekend's wedding went very well. It was my first chance to try a biedermeier bouquet and it turned out pretty well, I think. Lots of fun and I loved the way the colors turned out. So gratifying to see what's been in my head for so many months now realized and in living color!

Can I get an "Amen!" ?

Vindication

I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I tried, really, I did...............

Oh, Ye of Little Faith (episode two)

Here are the pics of my birthday present from Jeremiah, as promised:




The problem is that he lost the "before" pics when we changed computers recently :( So you can't really tell what we did. But that's okay, I'll just tell you. The brickwork and $25 in bedding plants at Lowe's was my birthday present from my perfectly wonderful husband :) The "before" pics would have included some shots of the house as it looked when we first bought it. I'm sure most of you have heard about that... It has come a long way, hasn't it? I am so thankful for and proud of this place. We've put a lot of work into it.

These pics are a bit old. The roses are in bloom and all the plants are bigger. I'll try to update in a couple days.

Sofi's Big Weekend

Wrestling with difficult issues

The things we Forsheys (along with some friends) have been discussing lately on our many blogs are not easy to understand (not saying we understand them, either). They're not easy to talk about, nor are they easy to come to consensus on.

But I think that "not talking about" it is not the way to deal with difficult issues. If a discussion is carried about in a respectful, loving way, I think that nothing but good will come of it.

I think that when the church (any denomination) falls into the trap of not asking questions, not looking for answers, not searching for truth or agreement among it's various members, we're asking for rottenness to creep in.

I think that "There lives more faith in honest doubt, than in half the creeds."

I think that covering up the debate on an issue within the church so as to present a unified front to the rest of the world, opens Christians up to criticisms of hypocrisy.

I think that even when we conclude at the end of the day that we still disagree with one another, we can learn from the opposing viewpoint, if we are willing to honestly consider it.

I do not think that one must end by agreeing with the opposing viewpoint in order to prove that one is honestly considering it.

I do not think that there is anything wrong in having a strong opinion about something, as long as you are not convinced in your own mind that you have the only righteous opinion. There's a big difference between opinion and righteousness.

I think that there are very few disagreements among Believers that actually involve a valid conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness. Mostly it's opinions.

I do not think that animation necessarily equals animosity. Nor does a heated debate indicate heated tempers.

What do you think? (if anyone's still reading...)

On Homeschooling

A very articulate look at one part of the decision to home-school. I was greatly encouraged and refreshed by this post and wanted to share it with you. Especially my friends who are also home-schooling mothers of young children!

AFTERTHOUGHTS

Oh well

So much for my "blog break". I blame it on Susi.

:)

Judah is DONE!

What's a body to do when Mom just doesn't get the message?

"On a break"

Only those "Friends" fans among you will 'get' the reference in the title...

I"m going on a blog break for a while. I've got a bazillion things going on and wedding season has started. And since Laura's leaving me to do the first one all on my own (!!), I'm going to have no time to call my soul my own-- much less blog. So, you won't be seeing much of me for a while here. Maybe some pictures and movies, if you're lucky, but no pithy commentary or deep thoughts. And I'm only writing this because I know how much everyone depends on my (almost) daily insights (*stinging sarcasm*) and I want you to be prepared.

A new link

I'm adding a new blog to my list today. Days To Come is a blog that is currently on holiday in England! Lots of well-written, entertaining stories about the author and her (large) family and their travels and adventures. I'm enjoying the chance to "travel the world" on someone else's dime...

I'd give credit here to the person that pointed me to this blog, but I can't remember who it was. May have been Ellen.... Speak up and take credit for yourself if you know who you are!!

Waaaay cool

So I have sitemeter on here, in case you haven't noticed, and I just found a really neat function of their service. I can actually get a list of where all you people are who read this blog-- as in geographical location-- although not who you are. There are some locations listed that have me completely baffled as to who the person reading might be. Jacksonville, Louisiana? Who are you?! Of course, Ben in Iraq takes the prize for "furthest distance traveled" to visit this blog. But now I'm really curious. Who is reading? Are any of you regular visitors? How did you find me? And where are you from?

If anyone reads this post and has not yet broken radio silence, please do so and at least take the opportunity to post a link to your own blog so I can "see" who you are and say hi. I'd love to "meet" some new people and return the favor of your generous patronage.